Dirt and Blood
by clovexoxocato
Summary: Career tributes are strong. We don't feel. We never fall apart. But I am broken. And the one person who could ever fix me is gone. Co written with effervescent-leprechaun, from Cato's POV.
1. Goodbye

**Hi! This is my first fanfic, its basically Cato's POV during Clove's death scene! I love Clato :)**

**Enjoy! (and review :D)**

'Cato!' I hear a scream. Then silence.

'Cato!' I hear it again, more panicked than before. Why is Fire Girl screaming my name? I smile to myself, thinking of the pain my darling Clove must be inflicting on her. Clove, the girl who has become so much more than a district partner to me over the past few weeks.

'CATO!' breaks through the silence of the forest. I am standing in the woods on the edge of the Cornucopia, waiting for Clove to come back. Why isn't she back yet? Suddenly, I realise the screams are hers. I grab my sword and sprint towards the Cornucopia, but when I see District 11 disappearing into the nearby wheatfield I know that I am too late, that I will never make it in time. I catch a glimpse of District 12 pulling herself upright, but the only thing I notice is Clove.

My Clove, lying on the ground, eyes opened wide and lips slightly parted. Somehow, mine find hers, and then we are kissing, more passionately than that time in her bedroom the night before Reaping Day, or the evening we spent curled up together under the stars on the roof of the training centre. In that moment, I hate the Capitol. I hate the Games and everything they stand for. My vision is blurred with tears, and I suddenly have a burning desire to win, just so I can stay alive to assassinate President Snow.

'Cato' she chokes out. I raise my head and look at her, trace my fingers along the deep gash on the side of her head and stroke her hair, tangled with dirt and blood. I lay her head gently across my lap, and then I find I am begging in between choked sobs for her to stay with me, for Enobaria to send us a parachute, for anything, even though I know that no amount of medicine will help Clove. She is too far gone.

'Cato' she says again. This time her tone is more urgent. 'Win for me' she murmured. 'No, Clove, you can't give up!' I shake her gently. I can see the tears rolling down her cheeks, washing away all of that dirt and blood. 'CLOVE!' I shake her harder. 'Goodbye' she whispers.

The cannon fires.

**A/N: So i was bored in class, and I wrote another chapter to this about when Cato's killing Thresh - would you guys be interested in that? REVIEW and let me know! Also I have just started another story about Johanna, called Stronger, and I would love it if you would go check it out! Thank you!**


	2. Revenge

**Hey guys! So i thought i'd write one about cato killing thresh, because that was never really in the book and I always wanted to know what happened! Enjoy!**

The rain pours down on us as we circle each other. A flash of lightning illuminating his dark eyes staring into mine. I glared back at him, thinking of her. I should've been chasing Fire Girl and Lover Boy right now. That's what we had agreed. But I was here because of her.

In my district, we say that death is weakness. She was never weak. Until she was.

He darted around to my left side, but my reflexes from years of training kicked in, and I deflected his knife easily with my sword, and thrust forwards, forcing him up against a tree. He looked scared, and I was sure he saw a monster in me. Everyone did. Apart from her.

The Capitol people are probably glued to their TV screens right now. The old Cato would be thrilled by that. Now it sickens me. "You killed her!" I scream at him, losing control of my emotions. I can't tell if its rain or tears that's running down my face. He looks at me steadily. "She killed Rue." He says simply, as if it's some kind of justification. "She deserved it", he continues. At his words I feel a sudden rush of anger. I stab my sword forwards into his heart, and yank it out. I continue to hack at him, and then I'm screaming and he's screaming and somewhere in the middle of that there's a cannon but I can't tell if it's his or mine. It should be mine. I wish it was mine.

I fall to the floor, still screaming, and push away memories of her. Career tributes are strong. We don't feel. We never fall apart. But I am broken. And the one person who could ever fix me is gone. I whisper her name over and over.

"Clove."

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review :) :) it makes me SO happy! and if you like this... check out my other story 'Stronger' about Johanna Mason! xxx**


	3. Dead

**Hey guys! So from now on (until Cato's death scene), effervescent-leprechaun and I are going to write flashbacks of Cato and Clove's time together.**_  
_

**Hope you enjoy! **

_With one last lunge I disarmed the scrawny, shaking twelve year old in front of me, and pressed the tip of my sword against his quickly beating heart. I smirked, before whispering menacingly, "Dead". I turned away, and feeling everyone's eyes on me, stalked back towards the instructor who was waiting with his arms crossed._

_"Is there anyone in this place who I haven't beaten yet? Because, seriously, this is getting boring", I drawled._

_The instructor narrowed his eyes. "Lucky for you, someone new joined us today. She was training at the girls' academy before, but she got sent here after 'accidentally' hurting one of the girls during a training session. She uses knives. I heard she never misses."_

_"Well", I said, "She hasn't met me yet"._

_Before he could respond, the whispering, which had been going on, stopped suddenly as someone entered the room. She was short, so I couldn't really see her through all the people in between us, until she started walking in our direction. And stopped right in front of me. She looked boldly at me, and coolly said "Hi"._

_I knew from that moment that I would hate this girl._

_****_**Maybe not the romantic start to their relationship you expected, but don't worry, that will come!**

**Review :) :) **


	4. Dead II

**Hey! So here's some more of Cato's flashbacks, cowritten with the amazing effervescent-leprechaun! **

**Enjoy!**

_I strode into the training room, head held high, oozing confidence and danger. I walked towards the girl and tapped her on the shoulder._

_"I've been instructed to fight you today", I said. "Prepare to lose"._

_She slowly grinned before saying: "It'll be fun to kill your pride. Alright. We'll fight."_

_We faced each other on the mat, me holding a sword, her a knife. She glared at me, then mouthed "Break a leg" before the instructor signaled to begin._

_Knowing that my strength was in attacking, not defending, I immediately moved forwards, ready to skewer this girl, when I found to my surprise that my sword was met with a flash of silver, and blocked. I growled in frustration, and went forwards to attack again, but was blocked once more. This time, it was followed by an attack from the from the knife girl, which I deflected, but not until her knife had grazed my leg, a small red line already appearing. Swallowing my anger, I did some complicated sword moves, but couldn't get near the girl, who seemed to be moving so fast that the was like a whirlwind, and all I could see was those dark eyes, or a flash of dark hair. It was halfway through the fight that I realized how good she really was. And it was exhilarating, fighting with someone who matched my ability, who could challenge me. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, I made my mistake. I lunged towards her, but overstepped it and ended up hitting the air instead. She saw my mistake, and took advantage of it, kicking the back of my knees and forcing me to fall to the ground. She kneed my back, and then straddled me, knife between my shoulder blades._

_"Dead" she whispered softly in my ear, and then slid off. I rolled over and sat up, my knees and back aching, but more importantly my reputation in shreds. The whole training centre was quiet, shocked, holding their breath and waiting to see how I would react. They all knew too well how angry I could get. I felt the fury rise slowly in me, looking up at the girl with grudging respect._

_"Well done" I said._

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review :) **


	5. Hate?

**Hey! Sorry its been so long since I last updated, I had a ton of work to do! But, finally, the next chapter is here! P.s. for any of you that love the mortal instruments and the infernal devices, i decided to name Cato's friend will! Although i cant decide if i like will or jace better, they are both soo perfect! Anyway, here's the chapter. Hope you enjoy! ****  
**

_The first time I realized I didn't fully hate Clove was a warm summer day, during a break from training. Everyone from the academy was lying on the lawn, soaking up the rare sunlight and warmth. I caught sight of her, sitting all by herself, as she always did. She never seemed to have any friends, and I always assumed it was because she thought herself better than anyone here, but now I wasn't so sure. Maybe she just preferred to be alone. She was sitting cross-legged underneath the shade of the huge oak tree, and was staring down at her hands clasped in her lap. In the soft light filtering through the leaves, she looked almost beautif-_

_My reverie was broken by my friend, Will, punching my arm. "Cato likes Clove! Snap out of it Lover Boy", he teased. I impatiently pushed his arm away, and looked back towards her. She was walking towards me, heading back to the academy to continue training, no doubt. As she passed me and caught me looking at her, I could have sworn she smiled ever so slightly._

_"No I don't", I replied to Will, but I could tell he didn't believe me, and I realized that I didn't either._

**Sorry it was so short! If you're feeling nice, how about reviewing? if you're feeling really nice, you could check out my new oneshot about Enobaria's victory! I'm starting to notice a theme here... GO DISTRICT 2! **


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